Norwich Ice Rink looks at fall reopening

Wednesday

Jun 5, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 5, 2013 at 5:02 AM

The Norwich Ice Rink won’t open until at least mid-August, and members of the facility’s governing board will go before the City Council later this month to try to secure thousands of dollars for a new chiller.

Adam Benson

The Norwich Ice Rink won’t open until at least mid-August, and members of the facility’s governing board will go before the City Council later this month to try to secure thousands of dollars for a new chiller.

“I’d rather say our goal is to get up and running for the fall and our fall programs, and being able to stay running and be consistent,” Ice Arena Authority vice-chairwoman Cheryl Ritacco said on Tuesday. “I think the summer is pretty much a wash.”

During a special meeting at the darkened 641 New London Turnpike complex, the authority said purchasing and installing a new refrigeration unit — which could cost up to $70,000 — is the most sensible plan to ensure the rink’s long-term viability.

It would probably take at least 10 weeks to get a new chiller operating, pushing an rink opening to around Aug. 20.

Since the rink is carrying a debt of $328,296 to the city, special permission must be obtained for such an expensive undertaking, authority chairman Peter Desaulniers said.

The rink has been closed since May 6, when its 17-year-old ammonia brine based chiller gave out. That followed a February ammonia leak that kept the site shuttered for a month.

Officials said up to $108,000 in revenue may be lost by staying closed through August, but it’s a necessary trade-off to make sure another prolonged closure doesn’t happen, the authority said.

“I’m afraid people wouldn’t come back for a third time,” authority member Stephanie Davis said.

In addition to making its case for city aid to pay for a new chiller, Desaulniers said the authority’s presentation to the council will lay out all options — including a permanent closure.

That’s a suggestion nobody on the authority supports, they said Tuesday.

“As far as closing the rink as an option goes, it’s probably shouldn’t come to that point,” Michael Goldblatt said. “It looks like we’ve got a $50,000 or $60,000 solution for a $5 million or $6 million property.”

And if the rink closes, Desaulniers said, the city has no chance of recouping the nearly $400,000 in annual financial assistance it’s given the rink since 1995, when it opened.

Gabe Stern, director of strategic planning and technical services for the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, has joined a team of consultants providing pro bono assistance to the authority as it weighs its options.

He agreed that closing the rink entirely would be the wrong thing to do.

“It’s more than $400,000 at stake. This is a quality of life issue at stake for the community,” Stern said. “There all these primary benefits to having this kind of asset for a community. It does generate business revenues, which generates taxes for the city.”